Pet Hero: Tibbles Wynn

Tibbles is a 6-year-old Domestic Short Hair who was brought into the Small Animal Practice by his Mum after falling victim to a suspected road traffic accident.

Tibbles, along with his sister Moogs, has been a much loved member of the Wynn family since kitten-hood. He has always been a very ‘human orientated’ cat, actively seeking company, affection and attention from his humans and is often laughingly referred to as behaving more dog-like in nature than to his own species! One of his signature tricks is answering to his Mum’s whistle – speeding from wherever he might be to her side in seconds flat! Some of his other interests include being greedy and eating his sister’s leftover food, hunting and playing in the garden.

Much to Tibbles’ displeasure, his humans recently decided to enjoy a two week long summer holiday with their children leaving him and his sister behind under the care of a friendly neighbour. He was reported to have been ever so well behaved, however he was nowhere to be seen upon the family’s arrival home. This was extremely unusual for human-loving Tibbles who previously would be stuck to his humans sides like glue! The Wynn family were very worried that Tibbles might have got lonely and done himself a mischief, so they went around the local area searching for him, putting up posters and posting leaflets through people’s doors asking for information. The local community rallied around the Wynn’s and they were given many leads but naughty Tibbles was determined to do things on his terms and a few days later decided to take himself home!

On his return, his relieved Mum noticed that he wasn’t walking properly, seemingly unable to support his weight on his back legs. Concerned, she immediately rushed him to the Practice to see one of our vets and it was discovered that poor Tibbles had multiple fractures to his pelvis and extensive nerve damage resulting in an uncomfortable inability to express his own bladder. Over the next few days, Tibbles was routinely sedated to allow the vets to drain his bladder and was prescribed pain relief to help keep him comfortable. He became a firm favourite in cat ward, working his charm on all the nurses to get extra cuddles and tickles! He was eventually fitted with a catheter and allowed home but naughty Tibbles obviously missed his nurse girlfriends and pulled it out after just three days, earning himself yet another visit to the Practice!

It was touch and go for Tibbles as without the ability to urinate independently, he would not be able to recover. Tibbles refused to give up and much to everyone’s delight managed to finally toilet by himself a full week after his first emergency appointment! He is now happily back at home on strict house rest instructions to allow his pelvis to heal, with no permanent lasting damage aside from a potential need for a tail amputation in the future.

This is a stark reminder of the dangers that face our beloved cats outside in the big wide world and highlight the importance of ideally having your cat both microchipped and wearing a collar, with a suitably engraved tag, allowing you to be contacted should the need arise. If you have any further questions about how we can help keep our cats safer outdoors, then please feel free to ask a member of staff or call us on 01934 852 422.